David Oakley from the Histon Village Society gave a talk to the Milton Local History Group tonight, on the 'Chivers' Jam Factory from 1873 to 1960'. Apparently, you could tell which jam or marmalade was being made by the smell emanating from the factory. The greatest pride of the founder and later his sons, was the number of local men and women that they employed.
The company was founded by fruit farmers who exported to the North of England and added making preserves of all forms to their skills. The company started with one factory on site and then expanded. Fruit was not just sourced locally, but as far afield as Scotland. They also diversified into canning and dried foods.
One of Chivers' claims to high quality and fame was the silver plating of their copper vessels used in making jams. Whilst recent studies have shown that silver can have antibacterial properties, there is also the fact that it can impart a strong flavour to some foods. However, metals such as copper and zinc can actually make sugar taste sweeter. The question therefore is, was the silver plating of copper vessels for jam making aiming to reduce the sweetening effect of copper? Or was it to ensure that there was a metal induced flavour enhancement of the sweet preserves (as well as giving an extra aura of novelty/aspiration)?
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